Quickstart
From fresh laptop to signed audit report in under five minutes. Tested on macOS 14+, Ubuntu 22.04+, RHEL 9+, and WSL2.
1. Install
# macOS / Linux / WSL2
curl -fsSL https://get.obexum.com | sh
# or download the binary directly:
curl -L -o obexum https://get.obexum.com/v0.9/obexum-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)
chmod +x obexum
sudo mv obexum /usr/local/bin/
Verify the install:
obexum --version
# obexum 0.9.0 (build 2026-04-27)
2. Bootstrap your local environment
obexum init
This creates:
~/.obexum/config.yaml— defaults you can edit later~/.obexum/keys/— folder for SSH keypairs~/.obexum/scans/— engagement directory root~/.obexum/obexum.db— local SQLite for history + diff
If you do not yet have an SSH key for Obexum to use, generate one:
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.obexum/keys/obexum_ed25519 -N ""
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.obexum/keys/obexum_ed25519.pub Administrator@10.0.0.5
Security note. The Obexum SSH key is your audit
identity. Never reuse the same key for a service account or check-in
automation. Keep
~/.obexum/keys/ in chmod 700.
3. Register your first target
obexum targets add prod-dc-01 \
--type windows-dc \
--host 10.0.0.5 \
--user Administrator
List what you have:
obexum targets list
# NAME TYPE HOST USER ADDED
# prod-dc-01 windows-dc 10.0.0.5 Administrator 2026-04-27T18:14:39Z
4. Run your first scan
obexum scan run prod-dc-01
You will see real-time check progress. A typical first-time scan against a Server 2022 DC takes ~3 minutes.
5. Read the report
# open the HTML report in your browser
firefox ~/.obexum/scans/$(ls -t ~/.obexum/scans/ | head -1)/findings.html
# or list findings on the CLI
obexum findings list
# or drill into one
obexum findings show AUD-WIN-ADCS-001
6. Render a remediation playbook
obexum playbook list --platform windows-dc
obexum playbook render pb-windows-dc-adcs-001 \
--target prod-dc-01 \
--item OBX_ESC1_AltSAN \
-o fix-ADCS-001.ps1
Read before you run. The script is dry-run output for a
change-management reviewer. Obexum does not execute it. The header
lists every advisory and the rollback section is at the bottom.
7. After remediation, validate
# Run the change in your maintenance window, then:
obexum scan run prod-dc-01 --only AUD-WIN-ADCS-001
# Or diff the full scan against your previous baseline
obexum diff <previous-scan-id> <new-scan-id>